"I wanted a party; great food, lots of champagne, family and close friends," shared birthday girl Michelle Hussey. Fact is, she got all that and more - kisses, hugs and several twirls on the dance floor way into the wee hours of Saturday morning, October 22.
It was a memorable 50th birthday party.

There were few signs of the torrential downpour that wreaked havoc on the city only a few days before. Even the road to the family's Beverly Hills estate had been repaired. The sky was a canvas of greyish-black dotted with a few stars. Guests, some 200 plus, started the ascent ahead of scheduled departure time to ensure a comfy corner (of which, might we quickly hasten to add, there were lots).

Michelle Hussey (right) shares happy birthday moments with mum Ruth and beau David Banmiller. (Photos: Karl McLarty)

A dance floor had been laid, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires were ready to take to the stage and Peter Shoucair of Electro-Tech, who had already created a chic atmosphere with warm lights and great party music, was now ready for the October 21 party to begin. And party they did.

Hussey and her beau David Banmiller, who had flown in from airline duties in Hawaii, opened the dance floor. Banmiller's twin brother Brian and his wife Jennifer joined in the fun, as well as Hussey's Irish friends Mary and David Daly.

Parents Laurie and Ruth Hussey were in the mix, too, as well as sister Angie, brother-in-law Anthony, niece Christelle, aunt Jennifer Lim, and uncle Wallace Campbell.

They were joined very soon by other family members Charlie and Alicia, Percy and Eleanor, and Andrew and Suzie; diplomats, members of the racing fraternity and the business community.
Veuve Clicquot flowed all night, as well as Undurraga, a truly smooth Chilean Merlot. Guests left the dance floor to repair to the poolside and enjoy the gastronomical fare, from suckling pig to peking duck, laid on by the staff of the Terra Nova's Food and Beverage Department.

Food aside, the respite from the dance floor gave many the opportunity to take a closer look at Hussey's evening lace trouser suit, complete with train, by Lebanese designer Jemy, as well as the fancy five-carat yellow diamond ring, a birthday gift from Banmiller (she had received the Harry Winston watch a week earlier), which Hussey insisted was "not an engagement ring". Naturally, her protestations fell on deaf ears.

The birthday celebrations continued the following evening with a private black-tie dinner in the newly designed Regency Room at the Hussey-owned Terra Nova Hotel. Brunch followed Sunday before guests headed to the ultra-chic Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay to celebrate for the rest of the week.

Executive Class

Gardens with Gravel

Death to the Mullet!